


The Marauders Era and the Year of Friendships

by rmaj



Series: A Wizarding World AU [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dorcas Meadows & Remus Lupin Friendship, Eventual Bartylus, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, French Sirius Black, German James Potter, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Indian James Potter, James Potter & Marlene McKinnon Friendship, Jewish Remus Lupin, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, M/M, Marauders, Mary MacDonald & Remus Lupin Friendship, Original Character(s), Remus Lupin & James Potter Friendship, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & Marlene McKinnon Friendship, Slytherin, Welsh Remus Lupin, Werewolf Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black, welsh lily evans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28905450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rmaj/pseuds/rmaj
Summary: I present to you: First year of the Marauders era! James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, Mary, Dorcas, and Marlene arrive at Hogwarts for their very first year. How exciting! However, our young dramatis personaes (mid-18th century Latin word which means the characters of a play, novel, or narrative), won't be living a drama free life. When Severus and Lily get sorted into separate houses, how will they stick together? How will Lily be friends with both Remus and Severus, especially when Severus loathes Remus more than he loathes his own father and Remus is friends with those skunks Sirius and James? How do the four boys come together anyways? When do their plans for mischief making start? How will Sirius survive a summer at Grimmauld?Keep reading: "The Marauders and the Year of Friendships" to find out!
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Mary Macdonald/Original Male Character(s), Regulus Black/Bartemius Crouch Jr., Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: A Wizarding World AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143884
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	1. The Train Ride

**NOTE: I have used a scene directly from the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The credit for those paragraphs go to JK Rowling. I will be underlining anything I used from those. James is Indian (well partially), Sirius is French, Remus is Welsh, Lily is Welsh. I have used Google Translate for the languages so it may not be 100% accurate, though I tried to make it as accurate as possible. All characters in this story belong to JK Rowling.**

James Potter gave his parents a hug. "Oh, mujhe vishwas nahin ho raha hai ki aap aakhirakaar Hogawarts ke raaste par hain," (Oh, I can't believe you're finally on the way to Hogwarts) Euphemia said. "Hamara ladka bada ho gaya hai," (Our boy has grown up) Fleamont said smiling. "Chinta na karen, aapako pata hone se pahale main vaapas aa jaoonga," (Don't worry I'll be back before you know) James told them. "Ham jaanate hain ki yah priy hai, yah sirph itana hai ki hamane aapako itane lambe samay tak ghar se door nahin rakha hai," (We know dear, it's just that we haven't kept you away from home for so long) said Euphemia. "Tumhaaree yaad aaegee," (I’ll miss you) James said, giving them another hug. "Ham aapako bhee yaad karenge." (We will miss you too) Fleamont looked at his watch and said, "Aap behatar tareeke se tren par chadhana ya aapako der ho jaegee." (You better get on the train or you will be late.)

Sirius Black stood before his brother and mother. His hair was combed back neatly and his wavy hair just barely reached past his ears. "Souvenez-vous de Sirius. Vous devez être trié à Serpentard," (Remember Sirius. You must be sorted into Slytherin) his mother said with a cold stare. "Oui mère," (Yes mother) Sirius said obediently. "Venez, Regulus, nous serons en route maintenant," (Come, Regulus, we'll be on our way now) she said. "Mère, puis-je s'il vous plaît dire au revoir à Sirius avant qu'il ne parte pour Hogwarts?" (Mother, can I please say goodbye to Sirius before he leaves for Hogwarts?) Regulus asked.

Walburga looked him up and down. "Faites vite," (Make it quick) she said and started walking back the other way. The second their mother was gone far enough, Sirius pulled Regulus into a hug. "Tu vas me manquer Sirius. Réponds-moi s'il te plait," (I'll miss you Sirius. Please write back) Regulus said quietly. "Bien sûr, je vais écrire, ne t'inquiète pas Reg. Je reviendrai avant que vous ne le sachiez. Je t'aime," (Of course I'll write, don't worry Reg. I'll be back before you know it. I love you) Sirius said. "Je t'aime aussi," (I love you too) Regulus whispered back. After a few seconds they pulled away. "Je dois y aller maintenant. Tu devrais aller rattraper maman," (I have to go now. You should go catch up with mum) Sirius said. They gave each other one last smile before they went their separate ways.

Peter stood in front of his mom. "Have fun at Hogwarts sweetie," his mom said smiling. "I will," he said. He was actually very nervous to go to Hogwarts. He had only ever shown one sign of magic in his life. Half of his family were squibs. He didn't know what to expect. "Try to make some friends at school," she said, giving her son a hug. 

"I'll try," Peter responded. He was never good at making friends. He wasn't much to look at and was always shy. He mostly kept his head down in class and did his work quietly. He wasn't the best but he wasn't the worst either. "I should get going," he told his mother and walked onto the train.

Hope was giving her son a hug. "Cael hwyl yn Hogwarts ond cofiwch fod yn ddiogel ac yn ofalus,” (Have fun at Hogwarts but remember to be safe and careful) she told him. “Peidiwch â phoeni Mum, y gwnaf,” (Don’t worry Mum, I will) he reassured her. “O rydych chi i gyd wedi tyfu i fyny, rhowch gusan i mi,” (Oh you've all grown up, give me a kiss) she said. “Mum,” Remus whined quietly, going a bit pink. “Beth, onid yw'n cŵl cusanu'ch mam bellach?” (What, isn't it cool to kiss your mum anymore?) she teased. “Tsk, okay…” he mumbled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you Remy,” she said and ruffled his hair.

“I love you too Mum,” he said.

Meanwhile, a brilliant bright red head wished her family goodbye as well. “Pob lwc yn um- beth ydy'r enw eto? Hogmart?” (Good luck um- what's the name again? Hogmart?) her mother asked. “Hogwarts,” Lily corrected her. “Ydw, wel rwy'n gobeithio na fydd hi'n rhy anodd. ,” (Yes, well I hope it won't be too difficult) Mrs. Evans said nervously. “O, peidiwch â phoeni Linda, bydd hi'n iawn. Hi yw ein merch,” (Oh, don't worry Linda, she'll be fine. She is our daughter) Harry Evans reassured her.

“Mae'n well i mi fwrw ymlaen nawr. Dwi ddim eisiau colli'r trên,” (It's better for me to get on now. I don't want to miss the train) Lily said. “O ie wrth gwrs. Er, Petunia darling, hoffech chi ffarwelio â'ch chwaer?” (Oh yes of course. Er, Petunia darling, would you like to say goodbye to your sister?) Linda asked. Petunia stood with her arms crossed, a nasty scowl on her face. “Na, ni fyddwn am gysylltu â freak fel chi, sinsir hyll,” (No, I wouldn't want to associate with a freak like you, ugly ginger) her sister sneered. Her mother gasped.

“Petunia! Nid yw hynny'n ffordd i siarad â'ch chwaer!” (Petunia! That's no way to talk to your sister!) Lily’s heart sank. She wanted to cry but she wouldn’t. Not here, not now. Everyone was so happy, there was no point in spoiling the mood. “Mae'n iawn mum, rwy'n siŵr y bydd Tuney a byddaf yn iawn ymhen ychydig,” (It's fine mum, I'm sure Tuney and I'll be fine in a while) she told her, though she said it more to reassure herself than her parents. “Dad, meddwl fy helpu gyda fy bagiau?” (Dad, thinking of helping me with my luggage?) she asked.

Her father agreed, and once he’d helped with her luggage, she waved them goodbye before entering the train.

James walked past compartments till he found an empty one and sat down in it. A minute later Sirius walked in. "Hey four eyes you saving those seats for anyone?" he asked with a smirk. James smiled at the remark. "No go ahead." "Thanks. I'm Sirius Orion Black III from the Noble House of Black," he said and extended a hand as he'd been taught from the minute he could learn to talk. "You say it like you're royalty. I feel like I should be addressing you as 'Your Majesty' or something," James said.

"It's just how I've been taught to greet people," Sirius mumbled, retracting his hand, a blush forming. "Did your parents teach you to call people four eyes too?" James asked. "No my parents are dead. They died in an assassination when I was four," Sirius said with a deadpan expression, staring at James. He stopped smiling. "Oh my god. I didn't mean to be rude. I just- wow I'm so sorry," James said.

Sirius started to laugh. "What? What's so funny?" James asked. "Oh you should've seen your face," Sirius said. "What do you mean? You just told me your parents died," James said confused. "Yeah I did but they're not dead. I was joking. They’re alive and healthy." "Oh well that’s good," James said.

“Eh well not really,” he said. “Huh?” James asked confused. “It’s- never mind. What’s your name?” Sirius asked. "Uh, James Potter." "Oooo a Potter... my parents told me to steer clear of you," Sirius said, nodding his head. "Why?" James asked, his smile fading. He was part hurt, part offended, and part curious. "I don't know something about not associating with 'blood traitors'," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "Total cow of course. I personally love Muggles! My cousin Andromeda always used to bring me Muggle shirts and records. She even bought me a record player! Of course mother hated it and the second Ann decided to run off with Ted she burned all of it. But I still have my godfather, Uncle Alphard. He's a total rebel and really cool. I wanna be just like him when I grow up."

Suddenly, Lily opened the compartment door. She quickly wiped away a few tears. "Could I sit here?" she asked. "Of course," James said with a smile. She sat down next to the window and looked out onto the platform. "So, er, what are you looking forward to at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked James. He wasn’t very comfortable with people expressing emotion. "Probably flying class. It seems like a lot of fun. You?"

"I don't know. Maybe... Transfiguration? An told me that you can learn to turn animals into objects so that sounds cool," Sirius said. Then, a boy with black hair, similar in color to James', and a hooked nose opened the door. He walked past Sirius and James and sat across from Lily. She glanced at him, then back out the window. "I don't want to talk to you," she told him. "Why not?" the boy with the hooked nose asked.

"Tuney h-hates me because we saw that letter from Dumbledore," she said. "So what?" he asked. She threw him a dangerous look for someone so little. "So she's my sister!" she exclaimed. "She's only a-" He caught himself before he let the slur slip. Luckily, she was too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed to hear him. 

"But we're going!" he said, not being able to contain his joy. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" She nodded and smiled a bit. "You'd better be in Slytherin," the boy commented. "Slytherin?" James asked with disgust. He had paid no attention to the two until the boy had said that. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius. 

Sirius didn't smile. "My whole family has been in Slytherin," he said. "Blimey," said James. "And I thought you seemed all right!" Sirius grinned. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" James lifted an invisible sword. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad."

The boy made a small noise and James turned to him. "Got a problem with that?" "No," the boy said with a slight sneer. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-" "Where were you hoping to go, seeing as your neither?" Sirius interjected. James roared with laughter.

Lily sat up and looked from James to Sirius with a scowl on her face. "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment." "Oooooo..." James and Sirius said, mocking her high pitched voice. James attempted to trip Snape as he passed. "See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed.

“What little pigs!” she exclaimed. “Whatever let’s just find somewhere to sit,” Severus mumbled. They walked for a few seconds before Lily decided to pop her head into one of the compartments. There was a blonde girl with blue eyes, a boy with the same features, who was probably her brother, and two brunettes, one with brown eyes and one with hazel eyes sitting in the compartment.

“Oh this one is too full,” she said, and was about to close it when the blonde girl piped up and said, “No wait!” “Yes?” Lily asked. “Come in! The more the merrier,” she told Lily. “Is it alright if my friend joins us?” she asked. “Sure, why not?” the blonde shrugged.

The two sat in the compartment across from the blondes and brown eyed brunette. “Hi, I’m Marlene McKinnon and this is my twin brother Adam,” she said. “Hey,” he said with a nod. “I’m Dorcas Meadows,” the brown-eyed girl said. “I’m Mary MacDonald,” said the hazel eyed one. “Nice to meet you all. I’m Lily Evans and this is my friend Severus Snape.”

“So what house do you want to be in Lily?” Adam asked. Lily hesitated for a moment. “Well, I’m not sure. I’ve heard of Slytherin-” “Ew,” Adam said. “What do you mean ew?” Severus said. “Slytherin is disgusting, it’s the house for evil people,” Adam said. “No it’s not!” Snape exclaimed. “Uh, yes it is, everyone knows that,” Dorcas said, agreeing with Adam.

Lily frowned. “Everyone seems to have something against Slytherin here. What’s the deal with it? Why does it get such a bad rep anyways?” “Almost every single dark wizard ever has come from Slytherin,” Dorcas said. “Yeah almost every Death Eater comes from that house too,” Adam said. “A… what?” Lily asked.

“You don’t know what a Death Eater is?” Marlene asked. “No I’m a Muggle born,” Lily explained. “Me too!” the hazel girl piped up. “Hey, she knows how to speak English!” Marlene said. “It’s about time you said something, you’ve been quiet for the past 10 minutes!” Dorcas said. Mary blushed and sank back again.

“Hello!” Lily exclaimed. “What’s a Death Eater?” “They’re people who work for You-Know-Who,” Severus said. “No actually I don’t know who, so if you would be so kind as to tell me, that’d be great,” Lily told them. “You can’t say his name,” Dorcas said. “Why not?” Lily asked. “It’s a bad omen. He’s done really terrible things,” Dorcas replied.

“Whatever he did can’t be _that_ bad,” Lily said rolling her eyes. The atmosphere became a lot more serious. “You-Know-Who is the leader of the death eaters, who are pure bloods and half bloods who kill and torture Muggle borns,” Marlene said. “And he’s not just any old evil criminal. He’s one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time. He works with werewolves who are literal monsters who kill humans or inflict them with lycanthropy for life, giants who also kill humans, and dementors who are some of the worst things to ever walk Godric’s green Earth,” Adam continued.

“Only extremely powerful wizards like Albus Dumbledore dare say his name,” Dorcas said. “Isn’t that the headmaster of Hogwarts?” Lily asked. Dorcas nodded. “Well why isn’t he afraid of You-Know-Who?” Lily inquired. “Because Dumbledore is the only person You-Know-Who is scared of. That’s why Hogwarts is the safest place in the world,” Adam said.

“Yeah, and guess which house You-Know-Who comes from,” Marlene said. “Slytherin?” Lily guessed. Marlene nodded.

Lily turned to Severus. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” “Because I knew it would scare you away,” Snape replied calmly. “So? Don’t you think I should’ve known this?” Lily said. “You would’ve found out without me and you did so I don’t see what the problem is,” Severus shrugged. “I just would’ve liked to hear it from you,” Lily muttered.

On another part of the train, Remus found an empty compartment and took a seat. He looked out the window, pressing his face against the glass. He watched all the kids outside tell their parents goodbye. Eventually the compartment door slid open. Peter and another boy with straight and short dark brown hair came in. Peter sat across from Remus and the boy with dark brown hair sat next to him. "Hey," the boy said. "Hey," Remus said.

"I'm Frank Longbottom." "Nice to meet you. I'm Remus." Peter looked at them wanting to say something but focused on the seats instead. "What about you? What's your name?" Remus asked him. Peter looked up. "Peter. Peter Pettigrew." "Nice to meet you Peter."

“So, you guys know what house you wanna be in?” Frank asked. “I want to be a Hufflepuff. It was my mothers house,” Peter said. “What was your dad’s house?” Frank asked. “My dad was a Muggle,” Peter said. “Oh alright. What about you? What house would you want to be in?” Frank asked Remus. “Uh, I don’t know,” Remus shrugged. “My mum is Muggle.” “Well what about your dad?” Frank asked. “Uh well, I- I don’t know to be honest,” Remus said quietly.

“Haven’t you ever asked?” Frank asked. “No, he um… no,” Remus said. “Oh. Well I want to be in Gryffindor,” Frank said. They talked for a while about different things like Quidditch, what they were most excited for, classes etc, though it was mostly just Peter and Frank talking while Remus listened. Eventually a voice echoed through the train and said, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The train slowed down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Remus, Peter, and Frank shivered in the cold. "It's so cold," Peter said, blowing air into his hands to warm them. "Yeah they should let us wear coats," Frank agreed. Over on the other side of the platform, James and Sirius thought the same. "Merlin's beard it's cold," James said and rubbed his hands together. "Yeah, whose idea was it to take a train? Couldn't they just have built in a floo system or something?" Sirius said, slightly irritated.

Lily, Marelne, Mary, Dorcas, Adam, and Severus shook in the cold. “When mum said it would be cold I didn’t think it’d be this cold!” Marlene exclaimed. “Yeah! And they make us wear nothing more than this thin sheet like robe too,” Adam said bitterly. “This should be considered child abuse,” Dorcas exaggerated. “Oh get over yourself, it’s just a bit of cold,” Snape snapped. “Don’t be so rude Severus!” Lily reprimanded. He had gotten into a heated argument with the McKinnons on the train which led to a very tense and angry atmosphere and an awkward ride.

Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A large mans big, hairy face, beamed over the sea of students heads. "Dang that is one big man," Sirius murmured to James. "Big and hairy," James remarked. "C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed the large man down what seemed to be a steep,narrow path. After a few minutes they heard their guide say "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. "No more'n four to a boat!" the man called.

James and Sirius filled into a boat with two other students, Remus, Peter, and Frank climbed into a boat with another boy with tan skin and green eyes, the McKinnon siblings and Dorcas got into a boat with Mary, and Lily and Severus got into a boat with two other students. "Everyone in?" the guide shouted. He took up a whole boat by himself. "Right then. FORWARD!" The fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake.

"Heads down!" he yelled as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after the man's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. "Everyone here?" he asked. Then he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. ****

**NOTE: Again, I have used a scene directly from the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The credit for those paragraphs go to JK Rowling. James speaks German, Sirius speaks French, and Remus and Lily speak Welsh but I have used Google Translate for that so it may not be 100% accurate, though I tried to make it as accurate as possible. All characters in this story belong to JK Rowling.**

**Kudos and Comments are appreciated :)**


	2. The Sorting Hat

**NOTE: A lot of this chapter takes paragraphs from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I will be underlining anything I've used from the book. All characters in this story besides Emiliea, Richard, Vivian, and Daisy belong to JK Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter or the Marauders. Also the Sorting Hat song isn't mine. I used pieces from a few different poems about the houses and put them together. I will put the links to the poems I used at the end.**

The door swung open and a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes and a stern expression stood there. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall,'' the man said. "Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide open. The first years peered inside. The entrance hall was huge. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches. The ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall.

"Well she's definitely someone you don't wanna cross," Sirius said. James nodded. Meanwhile, Remus was internally freaking out. His father had left him and his mum a few months after he’d become a werewolf so he didn’t know much about the magical world. Everything he knew came from the few books and minute knowledge his mother had, and she certainly didn’t know anything about school. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much.

Lily was surprisingly calm. Severus had already explained to her how the Sorting ceremony works. Meanwhile Dorcas and the McKinnons were working on calming Mary down. After what seemed like hours, Professor McGonagall returned.

"Move along now," she said in a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me." They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. 

The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. She placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. The hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. 

A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth. And the hat began to sing:

"For centuries and ages back

As far as I remember

I'm brought out on a stool each year

The first night of September

The first years put me on their head

I say where they belong

But first you must indulge me in

Expository song

The song, you see is more than just

A stodgy old tradition

It also helps me better to

Fulfill my steadfast mission.

I primarily sort out first years, but

I also feel the need

To help out the entire school

So older ones take heed!

Red and gold

Brave and bold

While Gryffindors may do things idiotic

It may stop something psychotic

Wit beyond measure

Is man's greatest treasure

That is what they say in Ravenclaw

The smartest of the four

Hufflepuff may not be the bravest

Or the one with sharpest wit

They may not have the purest blood

But their virtues are the greatest

Slytherin ambitious and sleek

Can achieve their ambitions in a week

Slytherin is misunderstood

Though beware what lies under their hood

There's much more to Hogwarts than

The House to which you go

But that's enough from me for now

My warning's been imparted

There's first years who need sorting out

Let the sorting hat get started!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still again. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. One by one she called the names. "Adams, Taylor... Bently, Abbey... Black Sirius."

Sirius took a deep breath then walked up and sat on the stool. He put the hat on his head and waited. " Hmm ," said a small voice in his ear. " Plenty of courage, I see. You have talent, yes, recklessness, daring. You’re determined to prove yourself different from your family. Now that's interesting. With a mind like yours, better be GRYFFINDOR!"

His mouth hung open. He had wanted Gryffindor but he didn’t think he’d actually get in. After several seconds he hadn’t moved from the spot due to shock and had to be pulled off by Professor McGonagall. "Calandra, Gianna, Dermont, Kathleen... Durian, Holland... Evans, Lily." 

She put the hat on her head and shifted nervously. After a few seconds of silence the hat spoke. " Difficult, very difficult. Loyal, hardworking, just, and patient is what I see. However there is also courage, chivalry, determination, and bravery…”

The hat sat on her head for a whole 10 minutes before shouting out "GRYFFINDOR!" The whole table burst into applause. Sirius moved up the bench so she could take a seat but she scrunched her face at him, remembering how rude he was to her friend earlier before and instead took a seat farther down the bench. "Fortescue, Alice... Freeman, Jamie... Greyson, Jason... Holland, Henry... Ibarra, Francisco... Jayachandran, Aanav... Kim, Daeshim... Laing, Amber... Longbottom, Frank... Lupin, Remus."

Remus walked up to the stool and sat down shakily. The hat spoke the second he put it on. "Oh! A werewolf. This should be interesting. I've never sorted a werewolf before." Remus froze. “How did you know that?” he asked. “I know everything about you. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone. It's just my job to sort you. Now let's have a look. Ah, intelligent I see. You value learning… But wait… you are brave, courageous, chivalrous, determined to make something of yourself.”

Brave? Courageous? The hat had him all wrong! He was none of those. “Ah but you see Remus, you are,” the hat spoke. “Are you sure? I heard a boy talking about a puff or something. He said it was the house for nice people. Can’t you put me in there?” Remus asked. He didn’t feel brave or courageous.

“Ah Hufflepuff,” the hat spoke. “While the people from Hufflepuffs have good hearts, they are much more than just kind. They are hard working, patient, loyal, and value justice. While you do possess those qualities, I’d say you’d be a better fit for Gryffindor. What do you say?” 

Remus bit his lip. “Alright then.” “GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted out. Remus made his way over with shaky legs. Everyone was watching him and cheering and he hated it. He’d never liked being the center of attention. His eyes scanned the table looking for an empty space when he locked eyes with Sirius. Sirius motioned for Remus to sit next to him. Remus walked over and took a seat. "Thanks," he said. "No problem," Sirius said with a smile.

"MacDonald, Mary.” Mary walked over to the hat shaking like a leaf. “Nervous are we? Most are. Let’s see… I see that hidden beneath those fears lies a promising young witch, who values justice… hard work and patience… and loyalty. I’d say, HUFFLEPUFF!” The entire Hufflepuff table broke into applause and she quickly scampered over with a blush to sit next to Aanav Jayachandran.

“Majumdar, Jay... McKinnon, Adam… McKinnon Marlene.” Marlene walked up to the stool confidently and sat down. Her brother had just been sorted into Gryffindor and they had never spent more than an hour apart. She hoped that she’d be sorted into Gryffindor too. “I sense you to be a feisty young girl… courageous, chivalrous, and brave. Just like your brother I see… GRYFFINDOR!” Happily she ran over and sat next to her brother and Lily.

“Meadows, Dorcas.” “Patient, loyal, hard working. You value justice... HUFFLEPUFF!” it shouted. Dorcas took a seat next to Mary. “Niraula, Nirjhar... Odett, Eloise... Pettigrew, Peter." He went up and put the hat on his head. After a moment it spoke. "I see that you have a secret daring side. You have nerves as well. However, you have a cunning bone or two. Where should I put you? Gryffindor or Slytherin?"

"I don't want to be in Slytherin. Please don't put me in Slytherin, anything but Slytherin," Peter pleaded. “Alright then. GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. Peter breathed out a sigh of relief and took a seat across from Remus.

"Potts, Pepper... Potter, James." James walked up to the stool. "Ooo I hope he's in Gryffindor," Sirius said. "You know him?" Peter asked. "Sort of. We met on the train. He's really cool. He wanted to be in Gryffindor." 

When the hat was placed on his head it spoke. "Oh you're an easy one. Daring, chivalrous, courageous, determined. I know just what to do with you. GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius yelled a "YES!" which startled everyone around him. "Sorry," he said, going slightly pink. "HEY JAMES! OVER HERE!" Sirius yelled. 

James ran up and took a seat across from Sirius, next to Peter. "Knew I'd make it into Gryffindor," he said with a grin. "Quinton, Bradley... Rumman, Raza... Snape, Severus... Turner, John... Ubacke, Isabella... Vance, Jeremy... Wong, Albert... Xavier, Gin... Yallop, Mary... Zabka, Ramona..." McGonagall finished calling out the names and then Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school, got up. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down.

Everybody clapped and cheered and the first years laughed. Then they looked over to the table and their mouths fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

"Hello first years. Enjoying your meal?" said a ghost, popping up out of nowhere. A few students gave a scream of shock. "What are you?!" Peter asked. "Why I'm the ghost of Gryffindor!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "The ghost of Gryffindor?" Remus asked. 

"Each house at Hogwarts has a house ghost. The Ravenclaw ghost is The Grey Lady, the Hufflepuff ghost is The Fat Friar, the Slytherin ghost is The Bloody Baron, and ours is Nearly Headless Nick," a tall dark skinned boy with beautiful dark locks and blue eyes sitting near them explained. "I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy" the ghost said. "Oh. Who are you?" Remus asked the older boy.

"I'm Richard Peck, Gryffindor Prefect," he said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Remus Lupin." "How did you die?" James asked Nicholas, taking a bite out of a sausage. "Well it- it's not a very interesting story. Quite boring really" Nick said. "C'mon tell us!" Frank insisted. More new first years looked over at Sir Nicholas listening. "Oh alright," Sir Nicholas said. 

"I was supposed to do a spell to straighten the teeth of Lady Grieve but it backfired and instead she grew tusks. Because of that I was supposed to be decapitated but let's just say it... didn't work out..." he said. "What is that supposed to mean?" James asked. "Well I could tell you... or I could show you" the ghost said. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.

"Ugh I regret asking" James said and the people around him nodded in disgust. Remus looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. "Who's that?" he asked. "The Bloody Baron" Nearly Headless Nick said, sounding grim. "Why does he look like that?" asked Sirius. "Well he's dead" Nick said, his tone lightning a bit. "No I mean why does he have blood on his robes? What happened to him?" Sirius asked.

"It's not a story for children. All you need to know is you don't want to anger him. However despite The Bloody Baron's unkind attitude, he is the only one who can control Peeves besides Dumbledore..." he said. "Who's Peeves? Is he another ghost?" asked Remus. "No Peeves is a Poltergeist, an invisible entity that moves objects, slams doors and creates other audible, kinetic disturbances. He's very annoying so I suggest you be careful around him. Enjoy your meal" Nick said and floated away.

"You guys really want to hear what happened?" Richard asked. The first years around him nodded eagerly. "Richy, maybe you should wait until after they eat," a girl with space buns who was around his age said. "Shut up Daisy. I'm a prefect. Don't tell me what to do," he said in a mocking voice. She laughed and said, "OK go ahead. But I'll warn you kids, you might have a nightmare." 

"We're not babies, we can handle it," James said. "Ooo he's cheeky. No wonder you're in Gryffindor," an Asian girl next to him said. "OK now shut up and let me tell the story!" Richard said.

"The Bloody Baron's story is quite tragic really. He was sent by Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw house, to find Helena her daughter in Albania after she'd run away with her mothers diadem out of anger and jealousy. Now the Baron was in love with Helena but Helena refused to return with him and so he killed her in rage. When he realised what he had done, the Baron stabbed himself with the same knife and died." "That's so stupid," Sirius said. "How so?" Richard asked. "First off, he needs to learn how to deal with rejection better. Second off, he's so whipped over her. From your description, Helena sounds like a brat. What was so special about her?" Sirius remarked.

"I don't know but he must've seen something in her I guess," Richard shrugged. "Well he's dumb," James said, eating a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "Don't let him hear you say that. You really don't want to be on his bad side. If you do, he'll send Peeves after you," the Asian girl said. "What's so bad about Peeves?" Peter asked. "Oh," she said with a chuckle. "You'll see."

"Don't scare them Viv," Daisy said. "I'm not! I'm just preparing them." "Hey, what's your name again?" Sirius asked Remus, slightly nudging him. "Remus Lupin. And you're?" "His Majesty Sirius Orion Black III of the Noble House of Black," James said, remembering how Sirius greeted him on the train. "Shut up," Sirius said. 

"Sirius Black," he said, turning back to Remus. "Nice to meet you Sirius. You're James right?" Remus asked. "Precisely! And uh you're Peter right?" James said turning to Peter. "Mhm," Peter said.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, pudding, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, and rice pudding. Sirius grabbed some strawberries, Remus grabbed pudding, James grabbed a Treacle Tart, and Peter grabbed an éclair. "So," Sirius said, "what are you guys?" "Huh? What do you mean?" Remus asked with confusion.

"I mean, me and James are pure blood wizards. What about you guys? I mean, I'm guessing you're not pure bloods otherwise I would've heard of you," he said. "Oh, well my mum's a Muggle and my dad was a wizard," Remus said. "What about you?" James asked Peter. "I'm also a half blood but my mum's a wizard and my dad was a Muggle."

At last, the desserts disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. That will be all for the announcements. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. 

The new students noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick your favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

The school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished the song at different times. Two blonde twins over at the Slytherin table finished belting loudly last. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest. "Music," he said, dreamily. "A magic like no other! Now everyone mosey on to sleep!" The Gryffindor first years followed Richard out of the Great Hall, and up a marble staircase. The people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, and twice Richard led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. 

Suddenly they came to a halt. Trash bins were floating in mid air. "Ah for Merlin's sake, can’t that poltergeist do anything else?" Richard muttered irritated. "Alright Peeves, stop this crap or I'll go get The Bloody Baron!" he said, raising his voice. There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared. "Oooo, what do we have here? First years for me to toy with?" he said with a mocking voice and wicked grin. "Oh get lost you fucking-” Richard paused for a split second. “Don’t say that,” he said over his shoulder to the kids. “As I was saying,” he said, turning back to Peeves, “get lost, you nuisance, or I'll call the Baron. I'm not joking!" Richard barked, tired of the poltergeists games. Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the trash cans, spilling their contents all over the floor.

He zoomed away, scaring children as he passed. " Tsk, are you bloody joking? Whatever, sure Filch I'll clean it up," Richard told himself. “You’ll want to watch out for Peeves,” the Prefect called over his shoulder, "He only listens to the Bloody Baron and Dumbledore. He'll make you late for class and just ruin your day." At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a yellow silk dress.

"Oh, new first years! How sweet. My name’s Rose, though everyone around here calls me The Fat Lady,” she scowled. “I’m a singer. Would you all like to hear a song?” “Look we just want to-” Richard started but was interrupted by Rose belting horridly like two seals mating. Many students covered their ears. “Someone should tell her she sounds like she’s dying!” Sirius exclaimed.

“THE PASSWORD IS JILLY WIGGLE!” Jay shouted. She stopped singing. “Alright then fine! Be that way. Go on, nobody cares what I have to say because I’m just a fat lady!” she exclaimed bitterly. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.

They all scrambled through and were met with a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. There was a large fireplace where many older students were chatting and different paintings and banners hung all around the room. There was a banner of a lion that hung over the fireplace, as well as several dozen books, and a trophy. Several broomsticks were around the room, and one seeker had a snitch in his hand that they were playing with. The walls themselves had beautiful red and gold wallpaper. There were several other desks around the room with books and lit candle sticks. “Here we are. The Gryffindor common room!” he said, turning to face them and doing jazz hands.

Some marveled, while others yawned, the heat making them sleepier than they were. “Wow! This is breathtaking,” Lily exclaimed excitedly to Marlene. “Yeah, it’s just like my parents told me!” the blonde agreed. Jay directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. There were large windows and night stands near each bed and a small rug in the center. Their trunks had already been brought up. Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter were all in the room with another boy. He had a honey skin tone, curly brown hair, and green eyes. "Hey, I'm Simon Minsky," he said.

“I’m James.”

“I’m Sirius.”

“I’m Remus.”

“I’m Peter.”

Sirius, Simon, James, and Peter all changed into their pajamas. Remus, however, simply changed behind his curtains into a pair of sweats and a long t-shirt with a faded logo. “Why aren’t you in your pajamas?” James asked. “I don’t have any,” Remus shrugged. “Oh you’re a big boy huh?” James teased. “Yeah,” Remus chuckled. He didn’t want to say it was because his mom couldn’t afford it. Sirius also walked out, but he was wearing a nightshirt much to the rest of the boys amusement. The boys barked a laugh when they saw Sirius. "What?" Sirius said. "What are you wearing?" James asked with tears in his eyes. "Pajamas, what are you all wearing?" "Pajamas made for kids, not grandpa's," Peter said, still laughing. "Hey, these may have been invented in the 1800's but I'll have you know they are very comfortable!" Sirius exclaimed going red.

"Whatever you say gramps," James said with a nod.

Meanwhile, the girls in the Gryffindor common room were getting along great too. Marlene and Lily would share a dorm with Alice Fortescue, Jo June, and Arya Agarwal. “Oh I’m still not over how gorgeous everything is!” Lily exclaimed. “Me too!” the Indian girl said. “Hi, I’m Lily. You are?” “Arya Agarwal.” “Nice to meet you Arya. What about you two?” Lily said, turning to the other two girls.

“I’m Alice Fortescue.”

“I’m Jo june.”

“Pleasure. This is Marlene,” Lily said showing her hand to the girl from the train. “Hey everyone,” Marlene said. The girls wore their pajamas and soon drifted off to sleep happily and excited.

On another part of the castle, Mary and Dorcas were having their own adventure. To get to the Hufflepuff common room, students had to go towards the kitchens, which was located in the basement of the castle. The entrance was in a nook on the right-hand side of the kitchen corridor behind a stack of barrels, and unlike the other common rooms, Hufflepuff did not have a common room password. Emelia, the prefect, told them that often students would sneak in and take just a few snacks. She also told them that’s why most of the best parties were in the Hufflepuff common room.

The common room was truly beautiful. It was yellow, black, and brown. There were succulents, flowers, plants, and vines all over the place. There were small circular windows which had tiny yellow curtains drawn over, where light would stream in during the day. There were multiple wooden desks with wooden chairs, a yellow couch, several yellow squashy armchairs, and a burning fireplace with a painting of Helga Hufflepuff hanging over it, with two small candle sticks on both sides of the painting. There were two bookcases, both made out of wood and all around students caught up on everything that had happened over summer.

Emelia directed the boys to one side and the girls to another. Dorcas and Mary shared a dorm with Indigo Crogsworth, Macy Gracefield, and Jessica Montorogo. The dorms themselves were very pretty. There were more small circular windows covered with yellow curtains which had vine-like plants on it. In fact, there were vines almost everywhere. From around the headboards of the beds, to the corners of the room. The pillows and bedsheets were pale yellow, and the covers were yellow and black checkered. The dorms had copper lamps which gave a nice warm glow as well as copper bed-warmers.

In the middle of the room was a large rug with the Hufflepuff logo, and next to each of the beds were nightstands. “Wow, the rooms are beautiful,” Indigo commented. “Yeah, I love the aesthetic,” Macy agreed. “I have to say, I thought that Hufflepuff would be filled with a bunch of overly nice goody two shoes but so far things seem good,” Jessica said.

They all changed into their pajamas. Dorcas was next to Mary, so she decided to try and strike up a conversation. “Hey, I’m Dorcas Meadows. You’re Mary MacDonald, right?” she asked. Mary nodded with a smile. “You don’t talk much do you?” Dorcas asked. Mary gave a small chuckle and shook her head. “Well that’s alright. I don’t talk a whole lot either usually. Never really been good at making friends,” Dorcas told her.

“Me neither. I like to be by myself a bit more, you know? I’m a bit of a nerd to be honest,” Mary admitted. “Oh, I see,” Dorcas nodded. “I’ve never been one to read a whole lot but I do like to be a bit more quiet.” Mary nodded. “Well good night then,” Dorcas told her. “Night,” Mary said, slipping into her bed and dozing off to sleep.

**NOTE: Again, this chapter takes paragraphs from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. All characters in this story besides Jay belong to JK Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter or the Marauders. The Sorting Hat song isn't mine. I used pieces from a few different poems about the houses and put them together. Links to the poems:**

ttps://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/6rhwn8/i_took_a_shot_at_writing_a_new_sorting_hat_song/

https://hellopoetry.com/words/gryffindor/

https://allpoetry.com/poems/about/ravenclaw

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/oct/07/your-stories-i-am-a-hufflepuff-poem

https://www.wattpad.com/475053040-hogwarts-poems-the-misconception-of-slytherin

**Kudos and Comments are appreciated :)**


	3. Classes

**NOTE: This chapter is a lot like that chapter in Philosopher's Stone but it's worded differently and I added a few extra scenes. All characters except the DADA professor belong to JKR. I don't own Harry Potter or the Marauders. Enjoy!**

The first years at Hogwarts had been mesmerized by the school last night, but the next morning they could not be more confused. The kids swore the school was trying to murder them. The staircases moved the second you got on and had vanishing steps which you had to remember to jump. Once, Remus had tried opening a door by pulling on the handle extra hard when it wouldn’t open thinking it was jammed, only to be squirted in the face with some kind of blue liquid.

Everything from the people in the paintings to the coats of armor could move. Whenever the ghosts walked through you, it felt like someone poured a bucket of ice cold water on you. Nearly Headless Nick and The Fat Friar helped the kids to their classes, but Peeves the Poltergeist was just as bad as Jay had said. He would knock your books out of your hand, get candy in your hair, throw coats of armor into your path, dump water on you, mess with the showers, knock over trash cans, shout for Filch when you broke a rule- you get the picture.

Speaking of Filch, he was another downside of Hogwarts. Filch was the school caretaker. He knew all the secret passageways of the school and could pop up before you got the chance to say Merlin. He constantly shouted at kids and passed out detentions like chocolate. Then classes themselves were hard, the hardest being Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, who was the strictest teacher they had. On the very first day she announced to the class, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

In Astronomy they studied the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learned the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Sirius found it quite easy and boring, considering his parents made sure he knew about every star and constellation out there, while Peter found it fascinating. Thrice a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. This was the only other class besides Astronomy that Peter was good at.

Mary liked this class because her parents were both botanists. Lily also liked the class, however Dorcas didn’t get the hype because all it did was get dirt all over her. Almost everyone could agree History of Magic was the most boring class, which was taught by Professor Binns, a ghost. He had fallen asleep in front of a staff room fire and got up the next morning to teach, not realizing he was dead. Remus and Lily quite liked History of Magic, and while Binns droned on and on, they scribbled down the countless names and dates. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. In the first week, they started to learn the _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm. Sirius, and James were good, but Remus was excellent. In fact, he'd perfected the Charm on his first try.

The class everyone was eager to take was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it turned out to be horrid. It was taught by an old lady named Professor Williams, who always looked like she had eaten something overly bitter. She had a low tolerance for misbehavior and a high temper. Once, she got so mad, she'd thrown a book at a student's head... needless to say nobody misbehaved in her class after that.

They also had Potions with Professor Slughorn in the dungeons which were not only freezing but also eerie, with pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls. "Good morning students," Slughorn said cheerfully during their first class. "Potions is a class that will not require your wands much, if at all. Now, many of you, like my classes from previous years will hardly believe this is magic, however, Potions can come into handy more than you think. Potions can be used as disguises, to heal the worst injuries, and even delay or prevent death all together. Of course, Mr. Potter, I'm sure you have good knowledge of Potions?" Slughorn said, turning to James.

"Huh?" James said, caught off guards, not wanting the eyes on him for once. "It's to my knowledge that your ancestor, Linfred of Stinchcombe, is credited for creating the Skele-gro and Pepper Potion, and your father Fleamont Potter is the owner and inventor of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion," Slughorn said. "Wait what?" James asked, eyes wide. Slughorn gave him a quizzical look. "I mean, yeah my dad is the inventor and owner of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion but, there's no way I'm related to whoever Linfred of Stinchcombe is, he sounds way too cool," James said. "Well, I could be wrong. You should ask your parents," Slughorn said and went on teaching his lesson.

When Professor Slughorn turned his back, Sirius nudged James. "Your ancestor is Linfred of Stinchcombe?" he asked in a whisper. "I don't know," James shrugged. "How do you not know who your ancestors are?" Sirius asked. "I didn't even know who Linfred of Stinchcombe is until just now. But it seems you do. Is he still alive?" James asked. "No, he died all the way back in the twelfth century," Sirius said.

"Then how do you know him?" James asked. "He invented Skele-gro and the Pepper potion, how could you not? Don't your parents teach you about your ancestry? Like do you guys have a family tapestry in your house?" Sirius asked. "No, the farthest back I can go is my great grandparents. Why do you?" James asked. "Yeah, we have a family tapestry with every single ancestor to the House of Black. My parents are big on the whole pureblood stuff. I can trace my bloodline, and all the other Sacred 28 bloodlines, all the way back to the Middle Ages," Sirius said, though he sounded disgusted.

"That's so cool!" James said in awe. Sirius scoffed. "May sound cool but trust me, it's super boring." "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black," Professor Slughorn suddenly said. "Since you're chatting so freely in my class, I'm assuming you already know everything, yes?" he said. Neither of them said anything. Slughorn made a _hmm_ noise and continued. "Today I will be teaching you to make a simple cure for boils. Does anyone know the ingredients for the Cure for Boils?" he asked.

Severus raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Snape." "Dried nettles, 6 snake fangs, 4 horned slugs, 2 porcupine quills, pungous onions, flobberworm mucus, ginger root, and shrake spines," Severus said. "Very good! 15 points to Slytherin!" Slughorn exclaimed, sounding impressed. "There's no way he memorized that on the first day! That greasy git definitely cheated," James whispered. "Sluggy's just giving them points because he's a Slytherin too," Sirius scowled in a whisper.

As class went on, Sirius and James disliked Severus more and more as he answered every single one of Slughorn's questions correctly and gained points for Slytherin. In the middle of class as they were making their potions, clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Peter messed up his potion and the cauldron fell all over Remus, Peter, and the floor. Students around them jumped up in time but Peter and Remus moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over their arms and legs.

"That is what happens if a potion is made incorrectly," Slughorn said, waving his wand to clean up the spilled potion. "Ms. Evans, please take them to the Hospital Wing, thank you." Lily got up from her seat and led them out of the room. "Do you even know where it is?" Peter asked. "No," Lily said. "What do you mean no?!” Peter exclaimed.

"No offense, but can you figure out where it is fast because we hurt!" Remus agreed. "Calm down!" Lily snapped. "It's not my fault you made the potion wrong!" "Sorry," Peter said, looking ashamed. "It's OK, mistakes happen," Remus said. In truth he'd take the pain of boils over his monthly transformations any day.

After wandering around aimlessly for a while, they turned a corner and bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry! Didn’t see yer there. Here, lemme help you up…” the man said. He heaved up the children with so much force they thought they may just fly away. “No we’re sorry. Say do know-” she abruptly saw her sentence when she looked up and saw a huge hairy man; the same one from the boats.

“Yes?” he said, after she’d stared for a moment too long. “Oh er, we were just wondering if you knew where the Hospital Wing was,” Lily asked. “Oh yeah. Bin there loads o’ times. C’mon lemme show yer,” the man motioned. “I don’t know if you caught it, but my names Hagrid, gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts,” he told them.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lily.”

“Peter.”

“Remus.”

“Nice to meet you lads. See you lot’re Gryffindors. That was me old house,” Hagrid said. “You went to Hogwarts?” Lily asked. “Course I did!” he beamed happily. “‘Ere we are. The Hospital Wing,” Hagrid told them.

“Thank you,” Lily said. “Thanks,” the boys said at once and entered. Inside, it was very large, with stone pillars and windows with rectangular window panels. There were many beds, with green covers and green curtains. A lady with brown hair and blue eyes was organizing a few vials of liquid. "Excuse me," Peter said. "Yes- oh my!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed upon seeing Remus and Peter.

"What happened?!" she asked, frantically rushing over to them. "Peter messed up his Cure for Boils potion and it spilled on us," Remus explained. " _Tsk,_ wait here," she said. She hurriedly rushed over to a cabinet and pulled out a vial of red liquid. When she popped it open, pink smoke rose from it. "Here you are. An actual cure for boils," she said. "Go on, drink," she said once she'd poured it into two small cups for them, that looked like shot glasses.

They downed it in one go and immediately gagged. "That's horrid," Remus said, feeling nauseous. "What were you expecting it to taste like, chocolate frogs?" Madam Pomfrey remarked. Immediately the boils and pain started to disappear. Lily entered the Hospital Wing. “I talked to Hagrid and he said that me, you, and Peter can come over to his hut next week on Saturday afternoon for tea if we’d like. Would you like to come?” she asked. “Sure, I’ll go,” Peter said.

“Great, and you?” Lily asked, turning to Remus. “Er, I’ll see,” he said. He needed to check when the next full moon would be. “Alright then. Peter, he said you could bring a friend so if there’s someone you’d like to bring just go ahead,” she said.

That Thursday, at three-thirty that afternoon, the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors had Flying lessons together. They hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a hot yet windy day, and they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest.

This was the class Remus was most nervous for. He'd heard others, mostly purebloods, boast about how good they were on a broom. Peter was nervous too. He had never rode a broom before despite having a mother witch. Remus also noticed that everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.

James was a fanatic of the sport himself. He expressed his annoyance of not being allowed on the Quidditch teams to Sirius. "If you got the choice, which position would you choose?" Sirius asked him as they walked to Flying class. "Ooo that's tough. Maybe... seeker? That seems fun. What about you?" James asked. Sirius thought for a moment before answering. "Probably a Chaser. It's the position my Uncle Alphard played."

"Did your parents play Quidditch?" James asked. "No, did yours?" Sirius asked him. "My dad played the position of Chaser, but my mum didn't. She doesn't really understand Quidditch or our obsession with it," James told him. 

When they'd arrived, they found the Slytherins were already there. Twenty broomsticks lay in neat lines on the ground. Jay warned them about the school brooms, saying they started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. "Chop, chop people, we don't have all day!" she commanded, clapping her hands.

All the brooms were old. Some had scrapes on them or chips of wood missing, while others had twigs sticking out at odd angles. "Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP" everyone shouted.

The brooms, however, were not so willing to comply. Lily's broom simply rolled around on the ground, Marlene’s tricked her several times into thinking it would lift but it never did, Dorcas’s moved once but remained still after that, Mary’s vibrated but didn’t move, James's hovered but did not come in his hand, Peter's smacked him several times, Sirius's lifted about an inch off the ground with what looked like a lot of effort but did not go much further up, and Remus's simply didn't budge. Once everyone had finally got it, Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle -- three -- two -- one."

Marlene, Adam, James, Sirius, and several others flew with ease enjoying themselves as if it was as easy as breathing. Lily, Dorcas, Mary, and most of the class eventually got it, but Peter and a few unfortunate others weren’t so lucky. Remus took off, but his broom zig zagged and he ended up crashing into the ground. Not hard enough to significantly injure himself, but enough to get him filthy.

“This class is a bunch of cows,” he mumbled, and was directed by Madam Hooch to the shower rooms.

**NOTE: This chapter is a lot like that chapter in Philosopher's Stone but it's worded differently and I added a few extra scenes. All characters except the DADA professor belong to JKR. I don't own Harry Potter or the Marauders.**

**Kudos and Comments are appreciated :)**


	4. Pranks, Tea, Owls, and Full Moons

**NOTE: I made up the Narratio Vivente charm, because I couldn't find a charm to make objects talk. If there is a charm like that feel free to LMK. I do not own HP or the Marauders. All characters except for Jay belong to JKR. Enjoy!**

**TW: I feel like there should be a TW for Remus's transformation. Talks about blood and pain.**

James was an only child. Growing up that meant he needed to find ways to occupy himself, which usually meant causing a bit of mischief around the house. And though he loved Hogwarts, he missed that feeling of pulling a prank and watching it all come together. So, one day he came up with a brilliant idea.

"I'm down," Sirius said casually. Him and James were sitting on James's bed. James had just told him he wanted to pull a prank. "But what would we even do?" Sirius asked. "I've already come up with an idea. Why don't we charm all the books in the Ravenclaw common room, to follow the Ravenclaws around and chant nerd," James said. "Oh I like that!" Sirius said sitting up. "But, how would we pull it off?"

"Well, I figured we could cast the _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm, and this charm I read about called the _Narratio Vivente_ charm," James said. "What does the second charm do?" Sirius inquired. "It makes nonliving objects talk," James explained. "Cool! Do we learn it here at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked. "Yeah, in our third year. But, Jay lent me his old book from third year for us to learn it.I told him I was curious to know more about it. We just need to learn the _Narratio Vivente_ charm and figure out how to mix charms and we should be good to go," James said. "Uh, there's one more setback," Sirius said. "Which is?" James asked, as he took out his homework. "How do we get into the Ravenclaw common room? We don't even know the password," Sirius pointed out. A sly smirk spread across James's face. He hadn’t told anybody about the Invisibility cloak yet. "Leave that to me."

In the library, Lily and Severus were sitting at a table together doing homework. “Magic is so fascinating! I never thought I’d enjoy doing homework but this…” Lily left her sentence hanging. Severus chuckled. “You know, you should read _Hogwarts: A History,_ ” he suggested. “Oh, that sounds fun!” Lily said.

“It probably will be. I remember when I was little my mum gave me a copy of it for my birthday and I was just in awe,” he said. “Hey are you doing anything Saturday afternoon?” Lily asked. “Uh, no why?” Snape inquired. “Well, this guy named Hagrid invited me to his hut for tea with these two other guys Remus and Peter, and he told me I could bring along a friend,” she explained.

“Remus? As in that scar faced freak?” Snape scowled. “Severus!” Lily exclaimed. “What?” he said. “How could you say that?! That’s so rude!” she told him. “Why do you care so much?” he questioned.

“Because I know that’s a horrible thing to say to someone who’s done nothing to you!” said Lily. “Whatever, I’m not going if he and that fat little blob are,” Snape said. “You know, you can be so rude sometimes? Just forget it, I’ll ask someone else,” Lily announced. She grabbed her books and walked out of the library angrily, all the way up the stairs to her dormitory. She flung the door open so hard she thought she’d broken it, and threw her books onto her bed angrily.

“Woah, calm down! You’ll break the door!” Marlene said. Lily whisked around and found Marlene sitting on the floor doing homework. “S-sorry,” Lily mumbled and went and gently closed the door. She marched back to her bed, huffed, and scribbled notes down while fuming. “What’s got your wand in a knot?” Marlene asked.

Lily looked up. “Nothing,” she said. “Oh come on. Something’s got to have you so angry,” Marlene pushed. Lily sighed. “I just had an argument with my friend, that’s all,” she said. “Who, that snake guy?” asked Marlene. “His name is Severus,” Lily informed her.

“Right… what’re you arguing about?” Marlene questioned. Lily bit her lip. “Mind if I vent?” she asked. “Fire away,” Marlene invited. “Alright, so basically Severus, though usually he’s nice, he decided to make a very rude comment about these two Gryffindors in our year, Remus and Peter,” Lily told her.

“Why?” Marlene asked. “Do you remember that big guy who took us on those boats?” Lily asked. Marlene nodded. “Well his name’s Hagrid. He showed me, Remus, and Peter to have tea with him Saturday afternoon. He said we could bring a friend if we’d like, so I asked Severus, but when I told him Remus and Peter were coming he got all nasty and called Remus a scar faced freak and Peter a blob!” Lily yelled.

“Oh wow. He’s a jerk. Why’re you still friends with him?” Marlene quizzed. “Well as I said, he’s usually nice. I mean, it’s not my place to say anything but his home situation isn’t the best so I guess that’s why he’s being so mean,” Lily reasoned. “Just because he’s having family problems doesn’t mean he can make fun of others though,” Marlene said. “I guess you’re right… I’ll talk to him about it later,” Lily said with a wave of her hand.

“If I were you I’d just ditch him but okay. I hope you find someone to bring to tea,” Marlene told her. Lily thought for a moment. “Say, would you be interested in coming with me?” Lily asked. Marlene looked up. “Sure I’d love to!” “Excellent!” Lily said cheerfully, and the two chatted away the rest of the afternoon while doing homework.

Down in the basements, Mary was huddled over in a corner of the common room. Suddenly she heard someone say, “Hey,” and jumped up. She saw no one other than Dorcas Meadowes, her roommate. “You scared me,” Mary said, still recovering. “Sorry. I was just wondering if I could sit here,” Dorcas asked. “No go ahead,” Mary offered.

“Thanks. Say, don’t you think Herbology is a bit overrated?” said Dorcas. Mary looked up from her book and shook her head with a confused look on her face. “I just don’t get Hufflepuff’s obsession with plants. It makes the room look nice, but actually doing it… it’s kind of annoying. You just get dirt all over your clothes,” Dorcas commented.

“Well, maybe you see it that way, but I quite like it. My parents are both botanists so it reminds me of home. Though I do wish I could visit them or at least call. I mean, you’d think that in a world so advanced they’d at least have a telephone!” Mary remarked. “Why don’t you just write to them?” Dorcas inquired.

“What do you mean?” Mary questioned. “You know those owls that always fly around in the morning?” Dorcas said. Mary nodded. “Well, in the Wizarding world since they don’t have Muggle tech, they send letters by owl,” Dorcas explained. Mary sighed. “Well that doesn’t help much. I don’t have an owl.”

“Well you could just send a letter from the owlery,” Dorcas suggested. “They have that?” Mary said. Dorcas nodded. “Wow. I don’t know if that’s cool or… stupid,” she said with a smile. “Why don’t you write your letter and I’ll show you the owlery,” Dorcas offered. “Alright,” Mary agreed.

Remus’s week was going a little less grand. On the second week of school there would be a full moon on Wednesday. He’d told Lily that he’d go with her and Peter to Hagrid’s on Saturday, so at least he had that to look forward to. This full moon wasn't as bad as the others but he couldn't handle much noise. On Wednesday, at 7:30 pm, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall had led him down to an abandoned house located in Hogsmeade Village.

"This is where you will come each month for your transformations," Professor McGonagall explained. Remus nodded. "I will come for you tomorrow morning," Madam Pomfrey said. "OK," Remus said. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Madam Pomfrey said, "Your clothes will rip." "Oh so uh, will you take them?" he asked. She nodded. "Uh ok... could you um," Remus said trying to tell them to turn around without sounding rude.

"Oh yes!"

"Of course."

He took off everything but his underwear and handed it. "Good luck Remus," Professor McGonagall said, her back still turned and the women left. He waited, his fear rising with each second. And then, after what seemed like centuries, he felt it. A bone in his spine cracked. He immediately fell to his knees and onto his back and yelled out in pain. Each bone after that started to painfully crack, taunting him. His teeth grew painfully, making his mouth bloody. His ligaments and tendons stretched against his will. Tears streamed down his face as he yelled out in agony. It was only a few minutes but it felt like hours. Finally he turned into the part of him he hated the most.

_The monster._

**Again, I do not own HP or the Marauders. All characters except Jay belong to JKR. Enjoy!**

**Kudos and comments are appreciated :)**


	5. I'm Sorry

Hey guys, I just wanted to update real quick to apologize for not posting a new chapter yet. I've just been swamped with schoolwork and my mental health isn't the best, but I promise I'll get a new chapter out soon. Thank you for your patience :)


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